


Gotham's Legend

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [4]
Category: Smallville
Genre: AU, Batman - Freeform, Bruce Wayne's larger than life ego, Drugging, F/M, Frenemies, Gotham, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24220930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: A trip to Gotham, to attend to one of Oliver's old friend's galas, takes an unexpected turn when Chloe and Oliver run into the local vigilante.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Hilton Hotel, Gotham -- October 13, 2010**

Chloe looked up from her computer when there was a knock on the door and held her breath, "come in," her eyes were wide and she stood up, smoothing her hands down her dress as she did. She was already dressed, her makeup and hair done, they had to be at the gala in less than half an hour, but this couldn't wait.

Just as she finished pulling her hair up, something clicked in her mind, she had been trying to find how Lex was able to bring Tess back, and suddenly, she remembered Adam Knight; Lana's former boyfriend who had been resurrected by Lionel. So after a little research, she called Oliver's room immediately and asked him to stop by.

Oliver stood outside the door to her room until he heard her call out. He smoothed a hand down his dress shirt, straightened his black jacket and stepped into the room. He stilled when he caught sight of her in the long black dress. The dress showed off just enough cleavage to catch a man's interest but not look vulgar. Her hair was piled on top of her head, with a couple of loose curls framing her face. He swallowed hard. "Wow," he murmured. "You look incredible."

She raised her eyebrows at the look on his face then looked down at herself, for a second, she even forgot she was dressed up. She looked back at him, "thank you," pursing her lips together a little, she looked at him, "you do too." Oliver looked amazing no matter what he did, but when he actually put effort into it, he was breath-taking. Even if she still liked how he looked better in his uniform than he did in a suit, it was still hard to take her eyes off of him.

"Come in, close the door," she told him, taking a deep breath and stepping back so he could walk into the room without bumping into her.

He stepped inside and shut the door as she requested, then turned to look at her once more, doing his best to keep his eyes on her face rather than roaming her body as they were inclined to do. He mentally chided himself at the thought. "What's up?"

Chloe turned her back to him and started back toward the computer, picking her dress up slightly as she walked, "I think I found out what Lex used to bring Tess and possibly himself back."

He was momentarily distracted by how the dress dipped in the back, exposing a large expanse of creamy skin. "Oh?" He swallowed hard, following her toward the computer.

"Project Lazarus, during our junior year of high school, Lana dated this guy and eventually we found out he had died about six months before she had met him, turns out, Lionel Luthor decided to resurrect him," Chloe glanced at Oliver over her shoulder as she leaned forward against the table, then turned back to the computer and typed for a moment, "I did some digging and it turns out someone logged into the project files six months ago, which was around the time Tess died."

Oliver paused at that, leaning beside her to look at the computer screen. "Lex really does have a God complex," he mumbled.

"Yeah, if you ever had any doubts," she told him, raising her eyebrows and turning the computer to him, "it's a serum, but if it's the same as what Lionel injected Adam with, it won't last forever, he needed to re-inject ever-so-often to stay alive."

His chest tightened at that. "So you think Lex brought Tess back with this serum," he murmured, pushing away from the desk and beginning to pace the floor. "And if it doesn't last forever then he's brought her back for a specific reason. Or reasons." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

Chloe stood up straight and nodded, "I just thought of this half an hour ago, I haven't been able to do a lot of research, but that's the only conclusion I can think of for now," she admitted, watching him closely.

His expression was troubled. "And I can only guess that if she doesn't cooperate with him and whatever he wants her to do, he threatens to withhold the serum."

She raised her eyebrows, she hadn't looked at it that way, but then again, it sounded exactly like something Lex would do. "Maybe, I will research more when we get back, and maybe if we can track down where the serum is being produced, we can track down Lex."

Oliver drew in a breath and nodded. "Which leads us to the all important question. If we do find Lex, what are we going to do with him?" His voice was quiet.

"I don't know," she admitted, looking up at him, "handing him over to the authorities would be useless."

He nodded slightly, not meeting her eyes, though for a different reason than usual--guilt. "I don't know either," he said quietly.

Chloe took a deep breath and glanced at the computer again, "we'll talk to the team and everyone can decide," she told him just as quietly, because she knew what both their opinions in the matter were. If they had killed Zod when they had the chance, things would have gone differently.

Oliver nodded again, falling silent for a long moment. "Are you ready to go?" he asked softly a moment later.

"Yeah," she straightened her back and rubbed her hands down her dress, "let me just grab my purse."

His gaze followed her hands and he swallowed hard, nodding slightly. "Okay."

She brushed past him and grabbed her phone from the table, then threw it inside the small golden purse she'd be carrying, "okay," she told him, turning to face him again.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, then held his arm out to her.

Chloe raised her eyebrows slightly and looked up at him then stepped closer and took his arm. It had been almost two weeks since their last argument, but she could feel he was as tense as he usually was when they did argue.

Oliver offered her a small smile, his heart beating quickly as he led her out of the hotel room.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**Wayne Mansion, Gotham -- October 13, 2010**

The limo pulled up in front of the Wayne mansion about twenty-five minutes later, traffic in Gotham had been awful and the mansion was out past the suburbs. Chloe took Oliver's hand, a deep breath and stepped out of the limo, looking up at him for a moment then at the building, it was bigger than the Luthor mansion and much more impressive looking, and it was hard to beat a Scottish castle in the middle of Kansas.

It occurred to him as they stood outside the mansion that she'd never seen his parents' mansion back in Star City. At least not that he knew of. He supposed it was possible that she'd been by it during her stay in the city, but if she had, she hadn't said anything to him. He looked down at her and then back up at the building. He could tell from the amount of cars parked all over the road and the driveway that the party was already in full swing. It hadn't been his intention to be late, but at the same time he didn't care anyway. It wasn't like Bruce could say anything about someone showing up late. "Ready?" he asked, giving her hand a squeeze as he realized she was still holding onto it. He wondered if she was nervous.

"Yeah," she told him, smiling slightly as she glanced at him then taking a deep breath and looking up at the mansion again once they started on the steps toward the main entrance. She had never been to something like that before, sure she had been to one of Oliver's parties a few years back, but it had been at a club, and she'd been to a couple of parties at the Luthor mansion, but never a gala. And never a Bruce Wayne gala, and those were supposed to be both famous and infamous.

Oliver led her up the steps and then nodded at a man who opened the door for them. "Thank you." He glanced sideways at her as they stepped onto the marble floor.

She raised her eyebrows slowly and looked around, just like the Luthor mansion, the Wayne one seemed almost empty inside, very little decoration and while it looked beautiful, she couldn't imagine someone living in it, "is your parents' mansion anything like this?"

"Not really," he told her, glancing at her sideways. "Unless it's been changed since..." He paused. "I haven't been there in a long time."

"Oh," Chloe nodded a little, she knew it existed because he had mentioned it once or twice before, but she knew he'd been living at a penthouse in Star City when he wasn't in Metropolis before the headquarters were built.

"If you wanted to see it, next time we're in California, we could go there." His voice was quiet.

She looked at him for a moment and squeezed his hand unconsciously, "if you would be comfortable with that, I'd love to see it."

Oliver met her eyes and offered her a small, but genuine smile. "Yeah. We'll do that," he said softly, squeezing her hand in return and looking up as a familiar figure approached.

Chloe looked at Oliver for a moment longer then followed his gaze, she didn't have to be told who the man that was approaching them was, his trademark smirk on his face.

"Queen," Bruce said, smirking and stepping closer, glass in hand and he paused long enough to take a long sip of his drink, "not a face I expected to see."

He smirked in return. "And yet you sent me an invitation," he responded, a hint of amusement in his tone. He glanced down at Chloe. "Chloe, this is Bruce Wayne, Bruce, this is Chloe Sullivan."

"Didn't expect you to accept it," he said, his eyes on Chloe and he didn't bother pretending he wasn't enjoying the sight of the woman, he took Chloe's hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes on her face, "Chloe."

Her eyes widened slightly and normally she would have wanted to smack anyone who looked at her like that with her purse and tell them to keep their eyes on her face, but she was speechless.

Oliver's lips thinned into a tense line, his jaw tightening involuntarily at the way Bruce was looking at Chloe.

"It's very nice to meet you," Bruce said, keeping his eyes on her.

Chloe raised her eyebrows, "nice meeting you too, Mr. Wayne."

He reached out and slid his arm around Chloe's waist. "So what's the cause of this week's gala, Bruce?" he asked tersely.

"I need a reason to have a party, Ollie?" Bruce asked with a smirk and Oliver's hold on Chloe didn't go unnoticed, "keeping the rich people of Gotham entertained, it's a charity."

She held her breath when Oliver wrapped his arm around her, but she didn't complain even as he pulled her closer to her side.

Oliver relaxed a little when Chloe made no move to pull away from him. "If you say so," he responded with a shrug, glancing toward the ballroom. "Well, we've taken up enough of your time, I'm sure. Would hate to keep you from mingling with your other guests." 

Bruce chuckled and shook his head, "oh, we have time," he turned his attention to Chloe again, "I want to know what a woman like you is doing with a loser like him."

Chloe glanced at Oliver then looked back at Bruce. Three could play this game. She smirked softly, "well, Bruce, it might have something to do with the fact that he _doesn't_ stare at me like a piece of meat."

At that, a little hint of guilt bubbled up within him. If she'd caught him looking at her earlier, she wouldn't have been able to make that claim. Still, he couldn't help but smirk faintly at the other man.

"Well, Chloe, then there is definitely something wrong with him, he really should appreciate the way you look," Bruce added.

"He does," Chloe lied, her stomach tightening slightly, "he just doesn't feel the need to objectify me to let me know he appreciates it."

At that, Oliver openly glared at Bruce. "I see you haven't changed much since Excelsior," he said, his jaw tight.

"Neither have you," Bruce said, not at all phased by the glare, "except for the aging..."

"You'd be surprised," he said wryly, arching an eyebrow.

Chloe suppressed the eyeroll, she could tell Oliver was incredibly annoyed so she decided to help, "but Ollie tells me you're older, Bruce, you really shouldn't say anything about his age, should you?"

He glanced at Chloe sideways, then back at Bruce. He was already wishing they'd not come to Gotham, and definitely wishing he'd been smarter than to introduce _Chloe_ to Bruce Wayne. "He doesn't have as much class as some of us," Oliver said with a smirk.

"Ollie, Ollie," Bruce reached over and patted the other man in the arm, "get a sense of humor, might slow down your aging process." He turned to Chloe, "I'm sure I'll see you again before the night is over," and with that, he turned around and walked away, placing his empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter.

Oliver made a face as Bruce turned away. "Jackass," he said under his breath.

Chloe looked up at Oliver and raised her eyebrows, "is he always that pleasant?"

He glanced down at her and raised his eyebrows in return. "Pretty much."

"I don't know about you," Chloe said, looking up at him, "but I got the feeling he was going out of his way to try to get to you."

"Oh, he was," he agreed with a slight nod. And he _had_ gotten to Oliver. In a big way. And it had nothing to do with the way he was aging.

"Why?" She asked with a frown, "I thought you were barely acquaintances."

Oliver paused at that, surprised she really had no idea. "It's always been a game of one-up-manship with Bruce," he told her.

While Chloe had always been mildly amused by the articles on Bruce Wayne, she had never paid particular attention to the man, especially after she met Oliver and figured Bruce Wayne was as much of an image as Oliver Queen. Apparently one of them was the real thing when it came to being a playboy billionaires, "well if he looks at me like that again, I won't stop myself from calling him a chauvinist pig and he just might have to look that one up in the dictionary."

At that, he grinned brightly and met her eyes. "My heroine," he said with a wink.

She couldn't help but grin back at him, but she shook her head, "better than watching the two of you go another round in your pissing contest."

Oliver chuckled. "And _I_ was behaving," he told her, guiding her toward the ballroom. "Come on. Let's go see what the big man on campus has in the way of food."

"And drinks," she added then smiled at him, "and maybe next time, you _shouldn't_ behave so much."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "So I should have punched him like I wanted to?"

"Okay, let's stick to verbal assaults," she told him, raising her eyebrows back, "we don't need you plastered all over the front cover of every tabloid available tomorrow morning."

He grinned again. "That'd be a hell of a headline," he admitted with amusement, leading her into the room.

"If Lex wasn't out there," she said quietly, stepping closer to him so no one else would hear, "I would agree with you."

He smiled slipped a bit at that. "Right." He nodded a little, glancing around warily.

"Okay," Chloe took a deep breath, "let's find alcohol before we mingle with the over-privileged and corrupt."

"Okay, but just for the record, you're not including me in that statement, right?"

She smirked at that and shook her head, "you do more than enough to help the underprivileged, those people don't care about more than themselves, I put them in the same category as the Luthors."

Oliver's eyes brightened. "What category _am_ I in?"

"Your own," she said again, smirking then nodding at a passing waiter and picking up two glasses of champagne then holding one out to him.

He took the champagne glass and smiled at her.

He'd take it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wayne Mansion, Gotham--October 13, 2010**

Bruce had barely taken his eyes off the pair since they'd arrived. When he'd sent the invitation to Oliver, he hadn't _really_ expected his old schoolmate to show up. He'd simply been hoping. It was much more convenient than him going to them. Now the cards were all in his hands and he was simply waiting. He was positive they had no idea what he had planned. He cast a glance at Alfred, who stood several feet away and smiled a bit, drinking the rest of his wine.

Then he moved over to the older man's side. "I trust everything is ready to go?"

"Yes, Master Wayne," Alfred said, although the disapproval was clear both in his voice and on his face, "sir, if I may, don't you think it would be a better idea if you... _spoke_ to them instead?"

"That was Plan A," he acknowledged. "But then Queen walked in with a chip on his shoulder and acted like I was trying to take away his favorite toy." He smirked a little.

"I wonder why he would think such thing, sir." Alfred said in a completely unimpressed tone. "I suppose I should get on with your plan, then, your guests are starting to leave."

A smile quirked Bruce's lips. "As always, much appreciated." He nodded at Alfred and headed away.

"Indeed," the older man said, watching Bruce walk away before making his way through the crowd.

* * *

**Somewhere, Gotham--October 14, 2010**

Oliver set his wine glass down on one of the trays a waiter was carrying, blinking a few times, and then rubbing a hand over his face. "Chloe? I think we should get out of here." He blinked again, seeing two of her.

Chloe rubbed a hand over her face and blinked her eyes open wide, "I, yeah, my head hurts," she didn't think she had had so much to drink, but now, she wasn't sure she could walk.

"Mine, too," he admitted, glancing around the now nearly-empty ballroom.

"Ollie?" She squinted, "I think I need to sit down."

He frowned at that, reaching out to put his arm around her even though he didn't feel any steadier than she looked.

Chloe leaned into him a little and squinted again when she saw someone else approaching them, her vision so blurry, she couldn't make out the individual's face.

"Mr. Queen?"

* * *

He woke slowly, his head pounding. Other than that and feeling groggy, he realized he was pretty comfortable--warm and relaxed in what felt like a nice large bed. His arm was wrapped around something soft and warm and he didn't have to open his eyes to recognize the scent of Chloe's shampoo. His face was buried in her hair.

_Oh, shit._

He wasn't entirely sure how they'd wound up in bed together, but he was entirely sure she was going to kill him.

She started to wake up slowly too, her head was hurting and her body felt heavy. She shifted slightly and felt an arm and a leg over her, her eyes opened wide and she sat up, her head pounding so hard, she groaned and closed her eyes again.

He winced when her elbow connected with his ribs as she tried to sit up. Groaning, he pulled his arm away from her and pressed his hand against his head.

Chloe frowned when she head him, and she didn't need anything else to know exactly who she'd ended up in bed with, _again_. Sighing, she just laid back down against her pillow. On top of the pain, this was going to be the most awkward morning after since her first time. Maybe if she just stayed quiet he'd go back to his room and not say anything.

Oliver heard her sigh and shut his eyes, frowning for a moment and then slowly sitting up. "I don't think we did anything. We're dressed."

At that, she opened her eyes a little, suspicious for a moment but she did feel the dress around her body now that he mentioned it. She squinted and sat up slowly and sure enough they were both fully dressed, Oliver even had his tie on still, "I don't remember anything."

He rubbed his eyes. "I remember one glass of wine," he mumbled.

"Yeah, that, I remember that... and being at the party..." she said quietly, rubbing her hands over her face.

"That's all I got." He shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Me too..." she paused, finally looking around and frowned, "this isn't the hotel." There were no windows in the room, just two doors and it was cold, incredibly cold.

"Well, that doesn't bode well, does it?" He drew in a breath, tensing as he rose to his feet.

"No," she swallowed, standing up too and was surprised to find her purse on the bedside table, she grabbed it quickly and looked over at him, heart beating fast.

"Is your phone in there?" he asked, his eyes widening a little.

Chloe opened it quickly and nodded, then paused and frowned, "no signal. What kind of place would have no signal?"

"I like to call it...the Batcave."

Oliver quickly turned toward the new voice and he stared blankly at the man in the uniform a few feet away.

She hadn't even heard the door open, but she was glad she had somehow managed to keep her mouth shut when she saw the man, "... Batman?"

"Batman kidnaps people from parties?" Oliver said dubiously.

"On special occasions only, Green Arrow."

Chloe stilled, looking over at Oliver then back at the man in black.

Oliver grew still, as well, and he shut his mouth quickly, staring at the man silently.

"Watchtower," Batman said, his voice a growl, "if the two of you would follow me."

He looked over at Chloe, his expression completely blank. He raised his eyebrows.

She took a deep breath and looked at him and stepped closer before nodding and starting to follow the other man. She had done something not so different to the twins a few months back, maybe it was just the way recruiting worked in their field. Besides, this was supposed to be Batman, the man had been helping people in forever and most people still didn't believe he existed. He was a legend.

Oliver shifted slightly from one foot to the other, then followed behind her closely, watching the masked man warily as he led them into another room. And this room made Watchtower's control center look like a high school computer lab. His eyes widened slightly.

Chloe's eyes widened when she saw that they were, indeed inside a cave. The most incredible cave she had ever seen, the main screen was at least two story high and the computers surrounded them, it was like Watchtower on steroids. The place was huge and on top of the computers, it looked like it had it's _own lab_ toward their right and... she had read stories, especially on blogs, about Batman's car, and apparently, it was as impressive as the rumors said it would be and it was sitting right there, in the middle of the lab. "Wow..." she said almost inaudibly, under her breath.

"Why'd you bring us here?" Oliver asked, stepping past Chloe and looking toward the car, drawn toward it instinctively.

"Luthor." Batman growled, standing in front of the computers.

Chloe had to blink to look away from the computers and to the man, at the mention of the name, she glanced at Oliver then looked back at Batman, "what about him?"

Oliver tensed. "I take it you're not a fan either." He eyed Batman warily.

"I don't trust people who come back to life," he growled. "Especially not Luthor."

He glanced at Chloe, then back at the other man. "Sounds personal."

"Not as personal as it is for him to find you." Batman told Oliver.

Chloe remained silent, just watching Batman intensely, her eyes squinting slightly.

Oliver stared at him for a moment. "Works both ways," he responded evenly.

"Then you have your answer."

He cocked his head to the side. "Not really."

"You know our identities," Chloe finally spoke up and took a step forward, "why are you hiding behind your mask still?"

Oliver resisted the urge to say _because he's scared._ Instead he simply raised his eyebrows, waiting for the other man's response.

"Knowing my identity isn't necessary." He said simply.

"How can we trust you if you can't even trust us with your name?" Chloe pressed.

"We can't," Oliver responded, his jaw tightening. He looked over at Chloe. "So why don't we find a way out of here?"

Chloe paused and smirked over at Oliver then looked back at Batman, "I'm sure _Mr. Wayne_ can show us out, Ollie." Mostly, it was a hunch, but not many people had enough money to buy equipment like that, she had spent a small fortune of Oliver's bank account twice in the Watchtower, and on top of that, it would not only explain Bruce Wayne's excessively uncaring and self-centric persona, Oliver had done something similar and she had seen right through that too.

At that, Oliver paused, and slowly turned to look at the man once more, staring at him. It dawned on him that Chloe was right. She had to be. No one could afford this kind of place unless they had a hell of a lot of money at their fingertips. And he'd know.

Batman didn't react for a full moment. He hadn't been expecting her to put two and two together so quickly, in fact, when he sent Oliver that invitation, he had never expected him to come, let alone bring her along. But he was left with no choice. Slowly, he removed his mask, "you're good, Miss Sullivan."

"No." Oliver shook his head. "She's the _best_ ," he informed Bruce.

Chloe couldn't help but grin as he removed his mask. "No one could be that egotistical," she told Bruce, "that dedicated to making himself look like such a huge jerk unless they are actually hiding something." She took a step closer to him, "how did you find out about _us_?"

Bruce smirked a little at the question. "I'm far smarter than most people give me credit for." He lifted an eyebrow and looked at Oliver. "A vigilante looking after the people in Star City? And then that same vigilante showing up in Metropolis just as Oliver Queen relocates there?"

She glanced at Oliver then smiled back at Bruce, "I guess the two of you have more in common than you realized."

Oliver folded his arms across his chest. "So you felt the need to drug us so we could talk?"

"I had only brought one person here before, Oliver," Bruce said, his expression growing serious, "I would have preferred to have kept my identity a secret even from the two of you. You might have enemies like Lex Luthor, but I have a lot of them, some even more dangerous."

"Like the Joker?" Chloe asked curiously, a hint of fascination in her tone.

Oliver's jaw tensed a little at that fascination. He glanced over at her, then back at Bruce. "Well, if you brought us here, there's a reason, I'm assuming. Do you know something about Lex?"

"Joker is just one of them," Bruce told Chloe then turned to Oliver, "I know he's after you, I disabled one of his satellites last week, he's watching your team, and especially the two of you, but before I could track the signal to the source, he pulled all the information."

Chloe's eyes widened and she looked over at Oliver, "we need to warn the others."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "We will," he told her quietly, looking at Bruce once more.

"Do you know anything else?" Chloe asked, turning to face Bruce again.

"Not much more."

Oliver glanced around the 'Batcave' again, his eyes settling once more on the car. He moved over to it to get a better look.

Chloe glanced at Oliver and then moved around the Chloe glanced at Oliver and then moved around toward the opposite side of the cave, where the computers were, "did you build all this yourself?"   
"I did," he confirmed, a small smile on his face as he watched her head toward the computers. "Although you have a pretty nice setup yourself." He raised an eyebrow.

"The Watchtower isn't half the size of this," she told him, smiling softly at him then looking back at the screens, "and I assume the reason my phone isn't working down here is because you have all communications, with the exception of your own, blocked?"

Bruce flashed her a grin. "Can't have any possible spy technology interfering," he responded with a wink.

Chloe grinned and shook her head, "I should work on something like that," she paused for a second then turned to face him, "thank you for bringing us here, I know I don't really like strangers at the Watchtower."

"You're not exactly strangers." He smirked and then glanced over at Oliver before turning his attention back to Chloe. "I've been watching your team for the last several months."

At that, Oliver straightened and looked over at him, not looking particularly thrilled.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, not that she could condemn anyone for playing big brother on her, since she had been playing big sister for so long, but when the cameras were turned on her, well it made her slightly uncomfortable, "watching? How closely?"

"Not to worry, Chloe. Contrary to popular belief, I am actually a _gentleman_."

She couldn't help but smirk at that, "I have to say, you play the part of the womanizer playboy incredibly well."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "I'm not the only one, though, am I?"

Pursing her lips together, she looked over at Oliver then shook her head, turning to look back at Bruce, "no, you're not, but you go through a lot more trouble than he does."

"I'm more careful," Bruce answered with a slight shrug.

Oliver bit back a retort at that, turning to look at the car once more, his jaw tight.

Chloe looked over at Oliver again then back at Bruce, "we should keep in touch, if either one of us finds anything else on Lex."

"Or if there's another near-apocalypse," he responded with a nod. "My contact information is in your phone, your email account and your PDA, as well as in his." He nodded toward Oliver.

She smirked a little at that and nodded, "thanks, I guess I don't need to give you mine then."

Bruce smiled. "Already have it."

Chloe nodded slightly and smiled back at him, "we should... probably get back," she told him, glancing over at Oliver, the fact that he was silent for a long time now not going unnoticed by her.

"Certainly." He glanced toward Oliver, as well, though he didn't address the blond man. He looked at Chloe once more. "I'll show you the way out." He nodded toward the door on the far side of the room.

"Oliver?" Chloe called, raising her eyebrows.

He straightened, glancing over at her and then at Bruce before following them wordlessly toward the door, and then into an elevator.

She raised her eyebrows then rolled her eyes, stepping into the elevator, then turning to Bruce, "where are we, exactly?"

Bruce smiled again. "You'll see." A moment later the elevator ascended and a few minutes after that the doors slid open, revealing a small room with another door, this one metal and secured by a fingerprint pad. He placed his hand against it, then stepped out into the corridor of his mansion, raising his eyebrows at Chloe.

Her eyes widened and she grinned softly, stepping out behind him and looking from Bruce back to where they came from, "a secret passage behind the grandfather clock? Smooth," she teased.

He shrugged. "What can I say? I do like dramatic irony." He smirked.

"I like it," she told him with a nod, "and the fact that you have the mansion to cover up the batcave gives you extra points for most interesting headquarters I've ever been to."

Oliver rolled his eyes at that, but said nothing.

Bruce smiled at her and offered her his arm. "Noted," he said with a nod. 

Chloe hesitated for a second then stepped closer and took his arm, her headache was gone, at least and she was in a much better mood than she had been when she woke up. The fact that Bruce Wayne was Batman and he was actually willing to help them find Lex gave her hope. They needed all the help they could get, "just out of curiosity, do you usually drug people when you are trying to work with them?"

"Well, that wasn't the original plan, but the two of you seemed rather...defensive when you arrived," he pointed out, guiding her down the hallway.

"Like I said, you play the womanizer playboy part well," she told him, looking around the mansion as they walked.

He smiled, nodding a little. "Sorry about that," he replied. "I have to keep up appearances."

"Well, at least now I know you're just using that to cover all the good you do up," she said, smiling up at him.

Bruce smiled back at her. "We'll definitely have to keep in touch. I think we could work well together." 

"I hope so," she said with a nod, letting go of his arm once they reached the front door.

He reached out and took her hand, kissing the back of it and meeting her eyes. "The pleasure's been all mine."

Chloe couldn't help but smile back at him, slightly bashful, "I would have agreed with you on that last night."

He grinned at her. "Touche." He nodded at her and then looked at Oliver. "Queen." There was a hint of amusement in Bruce's eyes at the stony look on Oliver's face. 

_It's definitely been **your** pleasure,_ Oliver thought bitterly, nodding back at him and reluctantly extending his hand for Bruce to shake. "Bruce."

Bruce shook his hand, a faint smirk on his face.

Chloe smiled back at Bruce once more before picking up her dress slightly and starting out of the door, squinting slightly at the sun. She wasn't looking forward to being alone with Oliver. If the look on his face was anything to go by, he was less than pleased by the fact that Bruce was Batman.


	3. Chapter 3

**Limo, Gotham--October 14, 2010**

Chloe got into the limo and sat down with a deep breath, waiting for Oliver to be inside too then leaned back against the back of the seat and relaxed. Whatever drug Bruce had given them had made her sleep incredibly well because she was feeling more relaxed than she'd been in a long time.

A moment later, she reached inside her purse and checked on her phone, she had apparently missed a couple of texts from her cousin but nothing urgent, she would reply once they were back at the hotel.

Oliver, on the other hand, was anything but relaxed. He slid into the seat across from her, knocking lightly on the glass between the front and the back to let the driver know they were ready to go. When the car pulled into motion, he gazed out the window.

She looked over at Oliver and raised her eyebrows a little, "what's going on with you?" She asked, but kept her voice calm and did her best not to sound accusatory.

He shrugged a little. "Headache," he responded without looking at her.

Chloe watched him for a moment then reached into her purse, she pursed her lips together and pulled out a small bottle of advil and held it out to him silently.

A faint smile touched his lips at the gesture and he rubbed a hand over his face before reaching out to take the bottle from her. "Thanks," he said quietly, shaking two out of it, and handing it back. He downed them quickly, dry and let out a breath.

"No problem," she told him, placing it back inside her purse, "you might feel better if you eat something."

"I'll eat on the jet," he said with a slight shrug.

"Okay," she said then took a deep breath and looked out of the window.

"He had quite a setup," Oliver commented, staring out the window, as well.

Chloe glanced over at him and nodded, "it was pretty impressive, I like his idea of blocking cell phones and other electronic devices, we can set up a firewall so that only our devices will work inside the Watchtower and the house in Star City."

He nodded a little, as well. "It's a good idea."

"Yeah, I'll talk to Vic about it." She told him quietly, relaxing against the seat.

Oliver nodded once more, feeling somewhat like he was on auto-pilot. "Good."

Chloe just sighed softly and looked out of the window again, rubbing a hand over her face.

"You all right?" he asked, glancing at her uncertainly.

"Yeah," she paused for a moment then looked over at him, "you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just the headache." He looked out the window.

She watched him for a moment, "I know you're not a big fan of Bruce, but if he's Batman, he can't be that bad."

Oliver just looked at her silently.

"What? Batman has been doing a lot for Gotham." She pointed out and raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't say otherwise," he responded.

"You didn't," she agreed, "you just seem less than thrilled by the idea of having Bruce help us."

Oliver shifted uncomfortably in his seat and shrugged, not quite meeting her eyes. "Does it really matter? It's not like we can afford to be too picky about who helps."

She watched him for a second then looked away, shaking her head, "no, we can't."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking away, as well. "Then it doesn't matter." 

Chloe sighed softly and shrugged, "if it will make you more comfortable, I'll keep in contact with him, you don't have to."

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't mind."

"I rather avoid tension if we can," she pointed out, looking over at him again.

"I'm aware," he said evenly, looking back at her.

At his tone, she sat up, "look, I'm trying to make it more comfortable for you and you're giving me attitude for-- whatever reason and you have been pouting for the last hour, I was trying to let it go since you have a headache but either you tell me what is going on or you drop this."

"Then I'll drop it," he responded, looking out the window once more.

"Of course you will," she rolled her eyes and turned slightly on her seat to look out the window on her side.

Oliver rolled his eyes, as well. "Whatever."

Chloe turned sharply to look at him again, " _that_ isn't dropping it, if you're gonna keep up the attitude just say it, Oliver."

"Say what, exactly?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat and gazing at her intently, his eyes darker than usual.

"What is making you pout like a spoiled five year old," she snapped, holding his gaze, her eyes narrowing.

His jaw tightened. "I'd love to tell you, Chloe, but I'm pretty sure that entire discussion was taken off the table," he responded.

"What discussion?" She demanded, "I already told you you don't have to deal with Bruce, I will, what the hell else do you want? To tell him that no, he can't help us find Lex before Lex tries to kill you?"

"You really think this is just about _business_?" He stared at her in disbelief.

"Then why don't you tell me what it _is_ about?"

Oliver opened his mouth to respond, but was so dumbfounded by her honest confusion that he didn't know what to say. He rubbed a hand over his face. "Do I really have to spell it out for you, Chloe?" His voice was much softer now.

Chloe stopped at the change in his attitude and raised her eyebrows, "apparently you do, because I have no idea what is upsetting you so badly," she said, still defensively, but not as much as before.

"I was jealous," he told her, holding her gaze.

She opened her mouth then closed it again, staring at him for a long moment, her heart beating fast against her chest all of the sudden and she raised a single brow, "of what?"

"Come on, Chloe," he murmured, still gazing at her. "You know exactly what I mean."

"You're being ridiculous," she told him, shifting on her seat and looking away from him.

"Am I?" He shook his head and looked out the window.

"Yes, you are," she said, a little exasperated, "I don't even know the guy, Oliver." And she knew she shouldn't even be explaining herself to him, if she wanted to see anyone else, it wasn't any of his business, just like it wasn't any of her business if he ran after Tess, but she couldn't stop herself.

"Yet," he said almost inaudibly, leaning his head against the glass and falling silent.

She sighed deeply, not hearing what he said, Chloe just shook her head and stared out of the window, all that she felt relaxed before being replaced with tension.

Oliver shut his eyes until the limo pulled to a stop. "We should get ready and head back to Metropolis," he said without looking at her, reaching for the car door and climbing out.

Chloe opened her own door and got out through the other side, mostly so he wouldn't feel the need to help her, "yeah, we should."

He raked a hand through his hair. "I want to go back to Star City soon," he admitted, heading for the hotel lobby.

"If you feel like you have to go, you can go," she said seriously, looking up at him.

Oliver glanced down at her. "You won't be coming?" There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Chloe looked at him for a moment then pushed the door open, walking inside but not saying anything for a moment, "should I come?"

He followed her, a frown forming on his face. "You think you shouldn't?"

"When are you planning on going?" She asked, instead of answering him.

"I'm not sure. But soon." He paused, heading toward the elevator. "I want to check on Mia in person."

"I figured," Chloe nodded a little and walked with him, "I guess it would be good for Vic and I to install everything together at the house."

"We'll need to do the same at Watchtower," he murmured, pressing the button for their floor and falling silent.

"We can probably do that from a remote location, everything is connected." She told him once they stepped into the elevator.

He thought about that for a minute, then nodded slightly. "True." He glanced at her sideways.

She looked up at him for a moment then took a deep breath, "I need to go to Smallville, see if I can get all the files on Adam Knight from the hospital, see what else we can find on that project before heading back."

"All right. We'll head back to Kansas," he said quietly, pausing. He looked at the floor for a moment, then back at her.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little and took a deep breath, looking back at him.

He drew in a breath. "I'm sorry I keep making things awkward between us," he said quietly, his voice sincere.

She looked at him for a long moment then sighed softly, shaking her head and looking away, "just, forget about it, okay?"

Oliver felt his chest tighten at her words. "Yeah," he whispered, looking up at the floor numbers as they changed.

Chloe sighed softly when the doors opened and she stepped out of the elevator, "it won't take me more than fifteen minutes."

"All right," he murmured. "I'll just change and pack." He rubbed the back of his neck, loosening his tie on the way to his hotel room.

"I'll see you soon," she told him quietly, looking at him for a moment then reaching inside her purse for her key and making her way to her own room.

He unlocked the door to his room silently, just a few rooms down from hers. He paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked down at her for a moment, then stepped inside his room. He shut the door, but didn't bother to lock it. He simply made his way over to the bed and flopped down on it, closing his eyes and flinging an arm over his eyes.

* * *

Not even five minutes later, Chloe knocked on the door to his room but didn't wait for a reply, she opened it and stepped inside, "Oliver?" She called, a hint of urgency in her voice and then she paused, her eyes falling on him as he laid on the bed, "sorry. I.. thought you were packing."

He sat up quickly. "Just resting for a minute." He rubbed a hand over his face. "What's up?" The urgency in her tone didn't go unnoticed. Something was wrong.

"I got another text message," she told him, holding her phone out and showing it to him.

He reached out and took the phone from her, staring at the two words there.

_He's home._

Oliver drew in a breath and looked up at her. "Guess it's a good thing we're heading back to Kansas."

"Guess so," she told him, her eyes a little wide as she looked down at him, "we should have a conference with the team on the flight back, I'll text them and tell them we'll have a meeting in 45 minutes."

He nodded. "The pilot's prepping the jet," he told her, rising to his feet and moving to get his suitcase. He pulled his tie off.

"Okay, I'll finish grabbing my things," she told him, typing on her phone quickly then sliding her phone back in her purse, "and it's sent."

"All right. I'll meet you in the hallway in a few minutes," he said, grabbing the rest of his things from the closet. To save time, he figured he'd just change on the jet.

Chloe nodded a little then stepped out of the room, quickly walking back to her own, almost relieved that she'd gotten the text message, at least this way they would have something to do on the way back, something to focus on.

A few minutes later found Oliver waiting for her in the hallway, suitcase in hand. He had shrugged out of his suit jacket and it was tucked neatly inside the suitcase, along with the tie.

She looked up at him when he came out and nodded a little, she had pulled her hair down, but hadn't bothered changing or washing her face, the flight to Metropolis wasn't that long and she could change on the plane anyway.

"Let's get out of here," he murmured, heading for the elevator more to keep himself from staring at her than because he was eager to leave. Although he was eager to leave. He couldn't have been happier to get as far away from Gotham as possible.


End file.
